Malcolm Hartley[mælkəm hɑːtli] (born 15 February 1947, Bury, Greater Manchester) is an English-born astronomer and a discoverer of minor planets and comets, who works with the UK Schmidt Telescope at the Siding Spring Observatory in Australia.
[3][5] Unfortunately for Hartley, in 2002, "the Anglo-Australian Observatory retrofitted its Schmidt to perform multi-object spectroscopy, essentially halting all astrophotography with the telescope and ending any future possibility for comet discovery".
[6] Hartley is credited by the Minor Planet Center with the discovery of 3 asteroids made at the Siding Spring Observatory between 1996 and 1998, with (21374) 1997 WS22 and (65674) 1988 SM being near-Earth objects of the Amor group of asteroids.
[1] The outer main-belt asteroid 4768 Hartley was named in his honour, being deputy astronomer of the UK Schmidt Telescope at Siding Spring, with which this minor planet was discovered.
[3] The official naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on 27 June 1991 (M.P.C.